Youtube is home to a lot of weird stuff.

Nobody Cares is a recurring segment on the podcast in which we talk about stuff that nobody else cares about.

From the very beginning, there was Charlie the unicorn, and his less endearing friends Nyan Cat and the Annoying Orange. Then came the Smosh lip syncs, the Harlem Shake and my personal favourite, the goat remix of Taylor Swift’s Trouble. These funny videos amassed the most views because they are amusing and delightful in their own ways.

A strange but growing branch of Youtube is set to unseat funny videos as the most viral material. They’re designed to elicit a very specific type of reaction – not of laughter but of a tingling feeling in your brain. This is what fans call an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). According to them, watching (and importantly, hearing) people perform simple, mundane actions like carving soap and fluffing pillows gives them some sort of physical pleasure. Some people claim it reduces their anxiety. Others say it helps them sleep at night. And apparently, it’s not a sex thing.

This week, Ethan and I take a deep dive into the weird and wonderful world of ASMR.

Show notes:

Here’s one hour of ASMR soap cutting, because why settle for less? And a video from my favourite ASMR baking channel. You can read more on fatal insomnia here.